There are many instances where a stable support is required to ensure that the object or device being supported remains fixed with respect to a solid surface such as a floor. For example, laboratory equipment and measurement equipment, such as three-dimensional coordinate measurement instrument, are often required to remain fixed with respect to a sturdy object or the floor to ensure that the relative position between the measurement device and the object being measured remains fixed.
One common method of ensuring stability of an apparatus has been physically bolting the apparatus to a sturdy table or floor. However, this method requires permanently altering the table or floor and makes repositioning difficult.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,402,582, issued on Apr. 4, 1995 to Simon Raab and wholly incorporated herein by reference, shows a prior art floor stand support at FIG. 3 having a three-dimensional coordinate measuring device and monitor stand supported by a large-diameter post 24 and angled support legs extending up from a solid platform. Such a design is sufficiently sturdy to allow the coordinate measurement device to easily measure coordinates within a spherical space ranging from six to eight feet (1.8-2.4 m) in diameter with a measuring accuracy of 2{circle around (9)}±0.005 inch (0.13 mm), wherein {circle around (9)}=one standard deviation.
However, it would be desirable to provide a support that is at least as sturdy as the prior art support, but one that is easily moved from one place to another within a room and collapsed for storage or transportation.
Tripods are well known in the prior art for providing a stable support that is collapsible. However, for some applications, they are not stable enough. Specifically, in applications where the center of mass of the supported device is moved from directly above the center of the tripod, the bending moment imposed on the tripod legs can cause impermissible movement of the supported device, particularly in sensitive measurement applications such as that discussed above.
In addition, existing tripods remain difficult to move from one location to another. For example, if one wishes to move a device supported by a tripod from one location in a room to another location, he or she would have to lift the device and tripod together off the floor and carry it to the new location, while avoid tripping on the extended legs. If the legs collapse downwardly, then they then must be spread back out when the tripod reaches its destination. If the apparatus being supported by the tripod is very heavy, this compounds the difficulty of carrying it as the whole assembly becomes top-heavy.
While the tripod's ability to be collapsed for storage and transportation has made them indispensable in many fields since their introduction, they remain cumbersome to set up and take down, particularly where hand tools are required for tightening clamps and other adjustments in the case of heavy-duty tripods. One reason for this difficulty is that there has not been adequate provisions in prior art tripods for storing needed hand tools so that they are readily available.